Of Wolves and Foxes
by cerebral-ultimate
Summary: Chapter 12 uploaded, the fic is almost complete. Toss a poor guy a read and review, eh?
1. Beginning

Starfox: Of Wolves and Foxes  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Starfox, and portions of this story have been taken from original StarFox plots. I do own this particular version, though.  
  
(Dont worry, i wouldnt dream of writing a direct novelization... i wouldnt waste my time.)  
  
(this is a pg-13 right now... it will be upgraded later, probably to R)  
  
Fox McCloud awoke with a start. This was not unusual, for he never slept through the night. When he did manage to sleep, he had a horrible nightmare. The same one played over and over again in his mind. He could never remember it, but he always awoke in the morning or in the middle of the night, clutching his left shoulder as if in remembered pain. Even after he had awakened, his fingers would trace the scar of their own accord. He had been shot, he remembered that, but he had a feeling that he really did not want to remember the rest. The scar was mere inches to the left of his heart. Every time he saw it, he realized how close to death he had really come. He had a second scar on his right arm, but this one was nothing to him.   
  
His head, on the other hand, always hurt him. The left side of his skull had been surgically replaced, because it had been shattered beyond all use. He did not remember how he had gotten this wound, either. The left side of his skull hurt like a phantom limb. Sometimes he did not feel anything, sometimes the pain was so intense he would be on the ground clutching his head for minutes on end. During these spells, the rest of his team knew better than to come near him. The last person who had tried was Falco, and Fox had leaped on him, biting and clawing. He had been stopped only when Slippy shot him with a laser set to stun. he had left Falco a bloody mess. Of course, it did not help that he was severely hung-over at this point.  
  
He got up out of his bed and staggered out of the door of his quarters. Falco happened to be passing by at that moment. He had apparently gotten over being nearly killed by fox a month or two ago.   
  
"Hey, Fox, we got a message from Pepper. He wants us to do something for him." Fox groaned.   
  
"Probably Andross, man, on all the days we could have gotten a job, it had to be today." Fox cracked his stiff neck. Falco lead him back to the Great Fox's bridge. Hitting a few keys in the computer, slippy re-started the message. General peppers head appeared in the display.  
  
"StarFox team. The fate of the Lylat System may rest in your hands..." Fox was just getting annoyed  
  
"Skip past the "Cornerian Army Needs YOU" speech, if you would, Slip." Slippy hit a few more keys, and the display flickered, then re-started. Pepper spoke.  
  
"Our Planet is about to be attacked by Andross. We need your help. Your flagship and Arwings will be very helpful in this war. We will pay most generously." Fox just turned around and started heading back to his quarters.  
  
"This is pointless, im hungover, let Corneria deal with itself" He muttered. Falco just sighed.  
  
"We need money, ths ship is falling apart, and we havent gotten a job in ages, and if we dont repay some debts, we're gonna lose the ship. sober up, we're going." Fox was not entirely in-charge of his group, but as he owned the ship and the arwings personnally, he had the final say.   
  
"Fine, fine. ROB, set the course to Corneria's main army base." As the ship began to move, he sat at the small table in the bridge where the four of them usually ate, taking a glass and some other things off of a shelf. He cracked an egg into the glass, then added massive amounts of pepper. He then mixed in some of the alchohol he had been drinking the night before. He drank the whole thing down without tasting it.  
  
"How can you drink that stuff?" Peppy asked as he entered the bridge.  
  
"Hey, old man, this is the best hangover remedy there is. An egg, some pepper, and some hair of the dog that bit you. Works like a charm." Peppy only shuddered. ROB made a report. They would reach Corneria's base within minutes. Fox sent out a message to general Pepper. Pepper's face appeared on the display.  
  
"This is Fox. We're gonna help you guys out. You had just better pay us good. We will be arriving at your base in a few minutes, open up some space for a flagship to land. Fox, out."  
  
Ten minutes later, the Great Fox came in for a landing. Fox stepped out first, and was greeted by Pepper himself.   
  
"Nice to see you again, Fox" Fox did not even respond. Instead he looked around.  
  
Corneria base. It looked the same as it used to. He noted the doors to the crew quarters, the armory, the mess hall, and the data rooms. It was alljust like he remembered it. That is not, of course, saying he really wanted to remember it.  
  
"Okay, Pepper, fill me in." 


	2. Briefing

Starfox: Of Wolves and Foxes  
  
Chapter 2: Briefing  
  
Disclaimer: Parts of the story are taken from StarFox 64, but im not novelizing it, believe me. I dont own anything that appears here but most of the plot.  
  
Pepper lead them into what was called the "strategics room". It really was never meant to be more that the officer's mess hall, but various re-decorations and renovations eventually and inexplicably lead to the room the five of them stood in now. It was sparsely furnished, with the most interesting piece being the holographic imager in the center of the room. It was as near a to-scale map of the Lylat system as it was possible to get without going planet-size. Everyone always underestimats the distances between planets in solar systems. They are, in fact, beyond imagining, so a scale model is simply out of the question. The image also showed the latest layout of Cornerian, Katinian, and Venomian forces. The image was drastically in favor of the Venomians, as it appeared that they had at least 6-to-1 on numbers. Not to mention the most powerful battleships in existence. The situation certainly did not look promising. Pepper was somber.  
  
"As you can see, the layout of the formations in this hologram are extremely in favor of Andross' forces." Ignoring the chorus of "no shit" and similar phrases that erupted from the four, Pepper continued. "However, we believe that what Andross is using is a pure offensive. We believe that he has little to nothing held back for defense, and is trying to crush us before we can act. As you all ready know if you watch the news, he has all ready taken Macbeth and Zeras. We didnt exactly put up a great fight over Zeras, it is a toxic hell-hole now, but still a loss."  
  
"So what your trying to say is, 'we are screwed', right?" Quipped Falco. Falco was leaning on a wall, spinning a pistol on his finger. Pepper eyed him, annoyed.  
  
"No, what I am trying to say is that an all out offensive will be the last thing he expects. If we break through his fleets and attack Venom directly, he will have no choice but to back his forces to Venom. It wont win the war, but it will definitely give us some time." Fox was pretty sure he got the gist of the plan.  
  
"So, we are going to go, us, four arwings against an army, we are going to break through an enormous fleet of ships big enough to give planets a serious dent if they decided to fire on them, and straight into Venom, where Andross most likely has all manner of nastiness waiting for us." Fox scowled after saying this. he was just about ready to gear up and leave. Pepper saw Fox's distress, and produced a sheet of paper.  
  
"A few days ago, Andross released an official list of all of his soldiers, which of course means that he is both confident and willing to intimidate us however he can. We checked through this list and a certain name popped out at us. Pigma..."   
  
Fox's eyes narrowed. He remembered Pigma. The way Pigma had betrayed James, Fox's father, and lead him to a horrible death. Worse, Pigma was a coward. He had not even taken James on himself, he couldn't have won if he had. James had been the best, the very best. No fighter pilot had ever bested him. The old StarFox team, which included James, Pigma, and Peppy, could face off against an army and leave without a scratch. They had even used Fighters that pre-dated the G-diffuser and Nova-bomb systems. The four fighters that remained after James' was destroyed were upgraded again and again until they were the most powerful fighters in the Lylat system. This had, of course, costed a fortune. Fox was now so far in debt that he literally had people threatening to break his legs.   
  
Pepper knew how to deal with mercenaries, a personal vandetta always brought them into the fight. The four of them were now actually somewhat willing to fight.  
  
"When do we go?" Fox asked coldly.   
  
"They will attack us tomorrow, we need your aid in defense, All you have to do is travel straight through Corneria city and destroy any enemy units you come across. Assuming we beat back the Venomian forces, you will then proceed to Katina, to aid them against a second impending attack"  
  
"We're going to be really busy, arent we." It was not a question.  
  
As Fox took in the rest of the battle plan, he had one of those strange, inexplicable thoughts, that come for no reason and cannot be forced out. 'Yin and Yang' He wondered a moment later why this thought would occur to him, but it was just there.  
  
Yin and Yang 


	3. The Battle of Corneria

Starfox: Of Wolves and Foxes   
  
Chapter 3: the battle of Corneria City  
  
Disclaimer: I really dont own Starfox, as I have said twice all ready.  
  
Yes, I know, short chapters.  
  
This war had been going on for six long years. In the beginning, Andross could never have gained forcess of that magnitude, everyone wondered just how he had gotten that many soldiers together. He was preparing a final offensive. All bets were off, to coin a cliche. The war had begun when Fox was still in the military academy and his father was still... Fox stopped thinking.  
  
Pepper then lead the four of them directly into the mess hall, where the rest of this unit of the Cornerian army was eating at the moment. He called for silence, a call which went unanswered except by the random chatter that continued unempeaded.  
  
"BE QUIET" he yelled on about the third or fourth try. The room actually fell silent. "I would like to introduce you to some people. This is the Star Fox mercenary unit. They will be aiding us from here on in."   
  
"Were these the guys you thought would turn the tide?" Someone said sarcastically  
  
"Yes, they are. On the left is Slippy, who will no doubt be giving our engineering team a visit, next is Peppy Hare, im sure a few of you remmber him" Silence. "Falco Lombardi, and... Fox Mc'Cloud." The random chatter started again with a fevered pitch. Fox got the feeling that at least a few of ther conversations were about him, or more likely, his father.   
  
Fox wasn't sure if it was the heat, or the noise, or if he was just stressed. His vision began to blur. This was followed by a weakening in the limbs. He knew what was about to happen and braced himself against the pain he would soon feel. It didn't help. He fell to his knees as his head simply exploded with pain. His vision was filled with a blinding white light. The world seemed to dissolve, leaving him with nothing but the light and the pain.   
  
The pain was so intense that it would not be confined to his head, it spread across the rest of his body. Then, as quickly as it had come on, it was gone again, nothing but a memory. Fox stood back up and realized that everything had gone silent. The soldiers in the mess hall were silent, staring at him. With a quick mumble of some lame excuse, he excused himself. He stood outside of the mess hall's door. General Pepper solemly followed. As they stood outside, Fox saw with some satisfaction that Peppy, Falco, and Slippy had dug in, grabbing as much food as they could get their hands on. Fox looked over at Pepper  
  
"More than five years of this shit. My head does that, on and off, sometimes it doesnt do it for weeks on end, but that only means that a really big spell is on its way." Fox began to walk away. Pepper spoke to his retreating form.   
  
"Your quarters are number b-135... and Fox..." Fox stopped walking "He is with Andross. You know who im talking about" This was replied to by a gruff 'yeah'. "I didnt want to tell you with the others around, figured you might not want... nevermind." Fox continued to walk.   
  
  
  
There was only one time when Fox did not dream: The day before a battle. He only really slept when he knew his life would be in danger tomorrow. He awoke about two hours before he was supposed to report for duty. He always did.   
  
Sitting in his bed, eyes closed, lights off, he basked in the silence. He focused himself on nothing but his training. Every tiny adjustment he could make to a flight path, the best way to shake enemy units. The points on a fighter where a hit would cause it to explode. He spent an entire hour like this, then slowly opened his eyes. He got ready quickly, showering off and getting dressed in his usual uniform. it was green with a white overcoat. He put on his flight helmet, then quickly left the room. He quickly made for the meeting place in the hangar. The rest of the StarFox team were waiting all ready. Fox pulled a glove down his left hand.   
  
"Lets do this. We are going to wait in the Great Fox in low orbit. When they attack, and not before, we launch the arwings, we are to destroy any units we see. Understood?" The rest of the team answered in the affirmative. Fox looked up at the Great Fox. "ROB, prepare for launch." The four of them entered the ship and headed straight for the hanger. They got into the cockpits of their fighters and waited. Fox went over the radio  
  
"ROB, sorry, but you dont get to join in this one, we will be in a city, the Great Fox's main gun would be a bit too destructive." After ROB answered, fox looked on his arwings display. "Ok, here they come, just like we thought. They are headed straight for Corneria City. Launch at will!."  
  
  
  
The four arwings launched from the Great Fox and quickly flew down through the atmosphere. Fox was ecstatic. He was in his element again.  
  
"All aircraft check in."  
  
"Falco here, I'm fine"  
  
"This is Peppy, systems green"  
  
"Slippy here, all systems go."  
  
With a laugh, the four of them kicked the engines to full speed. It had been months since they last got a combat mission. They caught up with the first squadron of Venomian fighters almost instantly. Fox took a shot, and one of the four in the squadron fell in a burning heap. The other three split up, trying to spread the firepower from the Arwings. It was useless. Peppy, Slippy, and Falco each took a shot. Slippy missed, but two of the fighters fell out of the sky. Fox picked off the last one.   
  
Returning to formation, they scanned for targets. There werent any until they reached the city itself.  
  
"Holy shit, they're everywhere" Falco muttered. He was right. There must have been hundreds of fighters. They werent aiming at anything in particular, but instead were just causing as much destruction as they could. The four Arwings split up, heading for seperate sections of the city. Fox was picking off targets one by one. He would fire, one would drop, then again, and again. He never seemed to miss. Falco was not having much trouble either. Slippy had trouble just catching one.   
  
Fox realized that there were three fighters on his tail. He almost laughed. The idiots were coming in with too much throttle. He punched his air-brake and came to a near-complete stop. The fighters shot straight past, and he fired three times. Each hit was as precise as it could have possibly been. To anyone else at the time, it might have seemed an impossible shot. Three fighters slammed the ground.   
  
The enemy units always saw the size of the Arwing and underestimated it's agility. It took them by surprise when Fox punched the G-diffuser and turned on a dime, making their small, quick ships look like blundering whales. Fox's radio crackled to life.  
  
"Bogey on my six, something's wrong with the G-diffuser." Falco, damn it. Turning the Arwing toward Falco, he shoved the throttle to full. Falco brought his arwing across Fox's nose in a well-practiced move. The three fighters followed him stupidly, just like they were supposed to. This brought them directly into Fox's line of fire. Two quick shots removed two of them instantly. Falco took care of the other one by leading the stupid pilot to slam himself into a building. Falco retreated to the Great Fox for quick repairs.   
  
As for the Cornerian units, they were severely outnumbered, but putting up one hell of a fight. The ground units destroyed tank after tank, while the pathetic number of fighters mostly tried to stay alive and make a few kills.  
  
Fox was counting kills. He was at about twenty-seven. It was almost too easy. The fighters were everywhere, but they lacked sheilding. he could take one down in one shot. A nova bomb would take them all down, but he couldn't in good concience use one in a city. He yawned even as he shot down two more. It was pathetic. He took a hit in the right wing. It didnt even dent his sheilding systems. He went over the radio  
  
"Kill count: 43" He said, just for the sake of making small-talk.  
  
"24 here, Fox" Peppy said.  
  
"12" The two of them laughed at slippy. Fox realized that he had about seven on his tail. He tried the same trick he used on the ones before, but they didnt fall for it. He made a ninety degree turn just as they fired. Suddenly, three of them fell out of the sky.   
  
"Yahoo!" Falco, with a newly repaired G-diffuser, shot past Fox like a bullet. Fox did a quick loop, and shot the remaining three down.   
  
"Falco here, 26 kills" With Falco's added firepower, they took care of most of the enemy fighters with ease. Some of them began to retreat from Corneria City. The StarFox team followed. Falco was oddly quiet for a moment.   
  
"Fox, follow me, i've found the carrier." Falco lead him straight toward a waterfall.  
  
"umm... Falco..." They went through the waterfall, and Fox realized that there had been an opening behind the waterfall. Falco's hunting ability never ceased to amaze him. The carrier was in the distance, with several fighters between in and the team. Fox and Falco just plowed straight through them. Leaving Peppy and Slippy to deal with whatever was left. The two of them engaged the carrier directly. It was a large Carrier, with three missile launchers, a fighter bay, and a rather large laser cannon.  
  
The carrier had some severe firepower. It launched missiles, lasers, and enemy fighters straight at them. The missiles and fighters were somewhat easily shot down. Fox focused on one missile launcher, Falco focused on the other. Between them, they knocked two of the missile launchers off. Fox realized that they were now outside of the City's vicinity, but were over an ocean.   
  
"Falco, get out of the way" Falco didn't need to be told twice, he turned around and took off in the opposite direction. At that instant, Fox launched a Nova bomb. It glowed palely as it shot toward the Carrier. It struck the Carrier dead on. Ther Carrier fell out of the air, and exploded on the water. A massive wave resulted from the explosive force, Fox flew straight through it. Judging by the shouts and laughs coming over the radio, the Cornerian army had won.  
  
"That was almost too easy, StarFox team, return to base. Great Fox, dock back at the base, please."  
  
After making a victory lap around the city, the four of them flew back to Corneria Base.  
  
(How do you like so far? please, review. im begging here) 


	4. Wolfen II

Chapter 4: Preparation  
  
  
  
(Sorry about english problems, my computer doesnt check for them and I am miserable at finding them when i read)  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own it. Never have, Never will, Dont sue, Por' Favor'   
  
(An imaginary lollipop to the one who guesses who the other person is in the first 5 or so paragraphs before finishing the rest of the chapter hehehehe. its real simple, believe me.)  
  
A gun. Fox saw it, but too late. He felt his own gun lifted out of his hand. It was ripped upward by the shot, leaving Fox unarmed. Fox heard a laugh, then that gun fired again.  
  
He woke up and sat bolt upright. Breathing hard and sweating, he clutched his left shoulder, feeling the jagged scar. he stumbled to his sink and splashed his face with cold water. Fox looked at himself in the small mirror above his sink. The fox looking back at him looked as though he hadn't slept in days. His eyes would barely stay open. His pupils were tiny points. He looked pathetic.   
  
Fox coughed hard and spit into the sink. Brushing a bit of his fur aside, he looked over at his alarm clock. It was only three in the morning, a full three hours before he had intended to wake up. Returning his gaze to the mirror, he forced himself to remember the dream. He remembered seeing the gun that shot him. He remembered who it was behind that gun. He shook his head vigorously. Still trying to remember.  
  
The smell of smoke and explosives in the air. The flames that danced as though they were alive and devoured everything. The pure and utter chaos that had engulphed Corneria base. He remembered that. He remembered entering that final room. Who's quarters had it been? Fox just couldn't remember. All he knew is that when he got there, he realized that someone else had gotten there before him. Fox had looked at the creature that had stood in the center of that room, laughing like a man insane. He remembered how He had turned around, looking Fox in the eyes. Fox remembered that his eyes, which once seemed to be full of fire, were now as cold as ice. Fox remembered drawing his own gun, and watching as He mimicked Fox. Fox heard his own voice  
  
"W-What the hell are you doing? Why...?" He remembered how the other person had only laughed.  
  
"Why, I am joining the winning side, of course." Then he fired. That is where his memory ended. Fox Splashed water onto his face again, and stared at himself a bit longer.  
  
"Damn him..." Fox muttered as he got dressed.  
  
  
  
Fox left his room and took the two and a half hours he had to spare to unwind in the weapons training area. The firing range was practically empty. There were just a few gruff, tired looking canines on the night shift who had nothing better to do than to squeeze off a few rounds. Fox drew his blaster and took aim at the target. It was a classic target, with the outline of a humanoid and areas marked off to keep score. Fox drew a breath. Taking careful aim, he unloaded three shots in rapid succession. Three small holes appeared in the center of the target's head. Fox's blaster had almost no kick, as it was a new model, so his aim was next to perfect.  
  
Watching the other people in the firing range, either they were bad shots or they had been awake for a very, very long time. Probably it was a mixture of both, as they were actually managing to miss the target entirely much of the time. Fox drew his other blaster and began firing.  
  
By the time he was finished, his target had no head at all and much of it's chest was destroyed. Holstering his blasters, he wandered back up to the arranged meeting place. He was still an hour early, so he really had nothing to do. He simply paced around, drinking the largest cup of coffee imaginable. He cracked his knuckles. It had to be almost time.   
  
He leaned against the wall to his left, waiting.   
  
Close to an hour later, Falco showed up. Close behind him was Peppy. Slippy was late as usual. General Pepper was supposed to brief them again, so they headed to the briefing room. Pepper was all ready there, sipping at some coffee as he looked over a few maps.  
  
"All right, StarFox team. This is what we have so far. Tomorrow, you will be headed to Katina. We believe that Andross will attack Katina the day after that. Also, we may have another situation on our hands." The hologram in the center of the room changed, the map of the lylat system was replaced by a picture of a fighter. Fox looked it over, noticing that the build of the fighter was close to that of the Arwing. Slippy was more interested in the technichal data.  
  
"So... this looks just like someone took all of the Arwing's components and changed them around and changed the overall fighter design." Slippy croaked.  
  
"Not far from the truth. A spy in our group, Katt Monroe, you know her Falco, brought this data back. According to the data, there are four of these under construction. They are made expressly for the purpose of outdoing the Arwing. The strange overall design is meant to concentrate firepower for dogfights. It is equipped with G-diffuser systems and its shielding gives it unparralelled aerodynamics. It is known as a Wolfen II" The five of them stared at it for a little while. It was an amazing fighter. It seemed almost perfect. Then Pepper spoke again "We believe that it will also be equipped with Nova Bombs" This was greeted by an outburst of gasps and at least one 'Oh shit' exclamation.  
  
Slippy asked "So... what is a Wolfen I?" The hologram changed again. It was a red and black fighter, with four wings swept foreward and one laser cannon in the front.  
  
"The Wolfen MK I is Andross' best air superiority fighter. Four of these are in existence. They showed up in a border skirmish we had a few months ago. Just the four of them turned the tide in Andross' favor in that fight. All of our fighters together couldn't stop them. We do not have the pilots' names, but we know that two of them are defectors from the Cornerian Army. The other two are a mystery. The four of them are known in Venomian ranks as the StarWolf team." Fox's eyes narrowed. Falco looked over at him.   
  
"Mean something to you?" Fox shook his head. Once left, Once right. Pepper continued.  
  
"We have reason to believe that they are Andross' best pilots. We also believe that once the Wolfen II is complete, the StarWolf team is going to fly them. Just thought you might want some forewarning. That is all, you are dismissed. Do whatever you like until tomorrow morning, then we are sening our troops and you to Katina, understood?" After a general murmer of agreement, the Starfox team left the room.  
  
  
  
Pepper stared at the Wolfen II on the hologram. "Wolf... you never give up, do you?"  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Falco was bored, Slippy had gone to check over the engineering department of the base and Peppy had gone to have some sea with Pepper. Falco and Fox went down to the training area. Falco challenged fox to a quick sparring match. Fox really didn't feel like doing it, but Falco finally goaded him into it.  
  
There was a large blue mat in one area of the training facility. This was meant for training in hand to hand combat. They got into stance facing each other. Falco started with a punch directly at Fox's face. Fox moved quickly to the side and Falco's fist flew past. Half a second later, Falco went down. He did not even feel Fox's fist in his gut until he was on the mat.  
  
"Done yet?" Fox asked sarcastically. Falco got up.   
  
"Not by a long shot." Falco came at him again, Fox dodged a high kick, then a punch. Falco had no idea why he had even challenged Fox. He was so fast!. Falco actually landed a punch, but it really didn't accomplish much. Fox dodged a swipe in his direction, but felt a line of blood on his face. Falco had decided to use his talons.   
  
"That isn't exactly fair you know" He said as he dodged again. Falco kicked at him. Fox leaped at that exact moment. He landed lightly on Falco's leg, and used the momentum of Falco's kick to help propel himself over the Avian, landing behing him and high kicking him in the back of the head. Falco went down again. He had finally figured out that this was pointless.  
  
"Okay, Okay, I give up." A cheetah walked over to Fox.   
  
"That was awesome. Never seen anything like it. Nice move, dude." He held out a hand. Fox stared at it for a moment, then shook it. "Name's Artis, by the way. Just thought I'd come check you guys out, since im gonna be flying with you day after tomorrow. Im being sent to Katina too." Come on to the mess hall, I'll buy you a drink!" Artis started to walk away. Falco blinked. Then again.   
  
"Wierd guy... but hey, free drink." The two of them followed Artis.  
  
After having a few drinks, the three of them went their seperate ways. It was starting to get late, and it might have been about time to turn in for the night. Fox didn't go to his quarters, but instead went into the fighter bay to look over his Arwing. Getting into the cockpit, he ran a system analysis. While it was running, his left hand fiddled with a button. It was large and red, but not even Slippy could figure out what it did. It seemed to be in some way connected to the shielding system, but it didn't seem to do anything when pressed. This button was only in Fox's Arwing, and not in any of the others. This was most likely because Fox's Arwing had started as James' spare. There were things about the fighter that even he didn't know. He studied the analysis on the monitor in front of him.  
  
Shielding system: 100%  
  
G-diffuser: Operational  
  
Maneuvering thruster: Operational  
  
Afterburner: Operational  
  
Air Brake: Operational  
  
Weapon Systems:  
  
Central Blaster: Operational  
  
Wing Lasers: Operational  
  
Nova Bomb Launcher: Operational  
  
F- Destroyer: Ready  
  
F- Destrroyer. There was something else that Fox knew nothing about. At a guess, he would say that that was what the red button at his left did, but although the fighter's computer system said it was ready for use, he had never gotten it to work. As he had done several times before, he asked the computer for a weapon description of the F-Destroyer. The computer's answer was on the screen.  
  
"F-Destroyer. Powerful weapon of last resort, cannot be defended against by normal shielding systems. Warning: after using this weapon, exterior shields will be down for almost three minutes."   
  
This was entirely not descriptive, but then again, it was pointless to know what the weapon did if he couldnt get it to work.   
  
he decided to turn in for the night, since there was a rather long flight ahead of him in the morning. As he walked back toward his quarters, he passed through the old central hangar. It was like new, but there was a set of double doors. They were locked and barred, and they seemed slightly singed. The left side of his head began to feel a bit funny, so he went to lie down. 


	5. The Dream

OF WOLVES AND FOXES

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even the computer I wrote this on

(Some more insight into the mind of fox, this time)

Chapter 5: To Katina

As always, Fox woke up three hours early. Groaning softly in his bed, he sat up, looking at his alarm clock. With a soft growl, he got up to scrounge for some breakfast. He yawned, then looked around. Something wasnt right. It wasnt anything visible, just a sense of... of dreaming. He realized that the objects around him, his bed, his furniture, seemed slightly... unreal. He closed his eyes and shook his head.

Thn he heard the siren. That damned siren. It was all so very... nostalgic. He grabbed his gun, flipping it twice around his finger. He tore out of his room, and saw the brunt of the soldiers on the base running for the exits. He looked down a particular corridor. The corridor was on fire. Looking at it, he thought he heard something over the shouting voices and roaring flames. He thought he heard a scream. It took him only a moment to place the voice.

His eyes widened with fear, and he leaped through the fire and into the corridor. It was extremely hot, but the fire did not appear to have spread to many of the rooms in the corridor. He ran for one of the doors, even stopping for half a second to see if he was at the right place. He tried the door and it wouldnt open. He stepped back and kicked it hard. The lock, which wasnt very heavy, broke easily under the strain and the heat. He bolted into the room, his hand on his pistol.

Everything seemed to stop. The flames seemed to quiet down, the shouts seemed to disappear. There was nothing but his own breathing, as well as that of the creature he was staring at. He turned to look at fox, his gray fur flowing in the wind from the flames. He looked so natural amid the chaos of the base.

"Fox." He said. "I was wondering when you'd be showing up. I should probably tell you that you're a little... late." He motioned to a vulpine who was laying on the floor. Her body was broken and bleeding. There was a tiny bit of breathing... but she was probably all ready...

Fox's lower jaw trembled as he looked at her. What caught his eye was the way her body had been torn, as though by claws and teeth... as though by Wolf's claws and teeth. Now he really was crying, drawing his pistol to aim it at Wolf.

"Why... how could you?" Fox's finger squeezed the trigger, but Wolf was faster. Drawing and firing in the same motion, he blew the gun out of Fox's hand with his first shot, and put a shot into Fox's shoulder with his second.

"Why... I'm joining the winning side, of course" And Wolf fired one more time. Fox could literally feel the left side of his skull shatter. The last thing he saw before losing conciousness was a soldier... maybe Bill, bursting into the room. His last thought rang in his skull, as painfully as Wolf's gunshot.

"Fara...'

-

Fox awoke, for real this time. He didnt feel anything at all at first, and then he started to weep. He put his hand over his eyes and eventually it was covered with tears. He hadnt cried in a long, long time, nearly five years, and it felt somehow... reassuring. It was proof, he supposed, that he was still alive. This was pain he could handle. The pain was vibrant, alive, filled him the way that no physical pain could ever do. He felt more alive than he had for years. He almost - but not quite - smiled.

Now he forced himself to remember. He forced himself to remember Fara, the way she was. Not the broken husk he had seen at Wolf's feet, but the sarcastic, cynical, brutally honest, strangely optimistic, and (in Fox's opinion, at least) beautiful vixen he had been with for most of his academy days, until the last. He remembered her smile, her body, the way she walked. Then he reminded himself that he would never see her again.

A bit masochistic, perhaps, but it got the job done. He cried harder. He hadnt cried so hard since just after James died. The pain was both biting and beautiful. Then, he forced himself to remember the claw marks, the bite marks, how horribly she must have suffered.

The pain was too much for simple tears, now, and he literally screamed with what might have been glee. He looked down at his hand, and remembered touching her. His fist clenched against his will, digging his sharp claws into his palm. It felt good. He watched his blood flow from the cuts.

Now he looked at his clock. He still had an hour before he had to get up. So he cried. He cried for most of the hour, immersing himself in the pain he had felt for so long, but never allowed himself to experience.

It was strange. Once he had allowed himself to feel the pain he had bound up for so long, just a little tiny piece of it, he felt so much better. He felt that he might actually be able to sleep and not have nightmares, if only for one night.

-

Now it was time for him to get ready to go. He got dressed quickly, running to the hangar to meet the rest of the Star Fox team. He got to the hangar right after everyone else did. General Pepper wished them luck, and the Star Fox team climbed aboard the great fox.

It was more than a day's journey to Katina, and the Star Fox team would probably spend it resting. All of them noticed a strange difference in Fox, as though he were somehow filled with enegy. He even smiled at some of Peppy's old jokes. Finally, Fox hopped into his bed aboard the Great Fox and, for the first time in Five years, fell right asleep.


	6. Shattered Skies

6: The Battle of Katina

Disclaimer - I dont own it, no stop asking

* * *

Fox was asleep. This was the first thing that struck Peppy as odd. Not only was Fox asleep, but he seemed to be in a dreamless, perhaps even pleasant, sleep. As Peppy watched him, Fox smiled in his sleep, sighing contentedly. Peppy hesitated, wondering if he really wanted to interrupt what might be the first pleasant dream Fox had dreamed in a long, long time.

As it turned out, Peppy didnt have to. The alarm clock did it for him. It had been silent in the room, so the sudden noise made Peppy jump. Fox hit the alarm clock in irritation. Not "Hit" as in "Shut off" but "Hit" as in "Knocked into the wall". Fox groaned, then sat up.

"What're you doing?" He asked in irritation. He never was a morning person. He yawned softly, trying to wake himself up.

"I was coming to wake you up, because we're nearing Katina." Peppy explained. Fox threw on his flight suit and started to head for the hangar. Peppy shouted after him "Fox!"

"Yes?" Fox asked, turning around. Catching the look in his eye, Peppy stuttered.

"N-nothing, Fox." He diverted his eyes. Fox noticed, but didnt care enough to ask about it

* * *

. 

The Battle began at dawn. The sun was just barely over the horizon when the first wave of Venomian fighters struck Katina's main army base. Swarms of small, quick fighters striking simultaneously. It was obvious that Andross intended to win this battle by sheer numbers. The Star Fox Team made ready. They had to strike soon, or the brunt of Katina's army would be lost. Fox and the others launched just after the Cornerian military. They nose-dived into the atmosphere, their shielding systems glowing red with the friction. When he was about two miles from the ground, Fox shoved the Arwing's controls, forcing it to level out. The rest of his team followed suit. They kept tight formation, quickly dispatching enemy fighters.

"Christ, how many pilots can there be?" Falco asked over the radio as he downed another.

"Keep your mind on the mission, Falco" Peppy replied as they swept over the main structure of Katina's base, rescuing the katinian pilots who were in trouble.

"Star Fox team" Came Fox's voice, "break formation on my mark. 3-2-1" They broke formation at the same moment, going in four different directions.

"Fox? Is that you?" a voice over Fox's radio asked.

"Bill?" Fox sounded elated. He saw Bill's fighter being followed by three enemy fighters. Fox fired three times, and the fighters fell out of the sky.

"Fox, nice to see ya buddy" Bill said happily, leaping back into the fray.

"Reminisce later, we have a battle to win" Peppy shouted at them.

The Problem was that there were enemy fighters everywhere. The sky was thick with them. There were so many that the pilots had to avoid crashing into enemy aircraft. There actually were a few such collisions. Fox weaved his way through the mass of fighters, shooting at any enemy that got in his way.

"There's no end to these guys!" Falco shouted. Fox looked up and saw another wave of fighters approaching.

"Right, here comes the second wave. Get Ready..." Fox looked for friendly units near the second wave of fighters coming at him. "Heads Up!" He shouted, punching the Nova Bomb. The bomb flared from his launcher, flying straight into the center of the enemy formation. There was a massive wave of light and heat, obliterating many of them.

"Fox... as blatantly reckless as usual, I see." A menacing voice said over Fox's channel. A voice Fox recognized all too easily.

"You..."

Wolf O'Donnel punched his fighter's throttle, the other members of his team quickly following suit. "All Aircraft, prepare for sortie." He said. There was a quick report of status by his team.

"This is Andrew, all systems are in the green."

"Leon here, everything's fine"

"Pigma reporting, all systems full power." Peppy, who had been listening in on them in curiosity with his radio, gritted his teeth with rage at the sound of Pigma's voice. Pigma the traitor. Then Wolf was on the radio again, on an open channel so that everyone in the battle could hear it.

"Star Wolf Team, pick your targets." The Star Wolf team broke formation.

"This is Leon, I'll take the bird." Leon's wolfen I streaked after Falco. Falco was surprised by it's speed, but managed to dodge the first barrage of laser fire.

"Pigma here, I'm gonna take my old 'pal' down." Pigma flew sraight at Peppy, and it looked as though the two might collide head on. Then Peppy pulled a quick roll under Pigma and put two laser shots into the bottom of Pigma's fighter.

"Leftovers are fine by me" Andrew muttered, going after Slippy. Slippy dodged, barely, Andrew's first shot, but the second dented his shields.

"That leaves you and I, doesnt it Fox?" Then Wolf Laughed. Fox's eyes widened in what might have been horror. Or possibly rage. With a sharp growl, Fox tore after Wolf, weaving through the enemy fighters as though they werent even there.

Meanwhile, the Cornerian and Katinian fighters were winning the battle... kinda. The enemy fighters havily outnumbered them, but were not all that difficult to down. It wouldnt be long before they were cleared from the sky. Meanwhile, The Star Wolf team and the Star Fox team had their own battle.

Slippy somersaulted over Andrew. Andrew's slower Wolfen I could not match the speed of the move. Slippy was not exactly an expert pilot, and could only get off two shots after pulling off the move. Andrew took one shot in the right wing, the other missed entirely.

Falco and Leon dodged the swirling fighters with expert precision. Leon was on Falco's tail. Falco couldnt help talking to his opponent, the first worthy opponent he'd had in a while.

"I know you... Leon the butcher, right? Battle of Macbeth?" Leon responded in the affirmative. Falco grinned.

"That means I have a personal reason to take you down." He punched his throttle to full, leaving Leon in the dust and performing a quick U-turn. He threw his fighter foreward with reckless abandon. It looked as if he was flying to collide with Leon. Instead he put two shots into the front of Leon's fighter as he blew past, and his shields took several of Leon's hits.

Fox chased Wolf like a cat chasing a mouse, and Wolf loved every second of it. They danced in the sky, an almost beautiful display of sheer skill. Fox's faster Arwing had obvious advantages in dogfighting, but Wolf was just too good to allow that to decide the battle.

Wolf found that there was nowhere to go. Fighters were on all sides, he was boxed in. Fox fired and he couldnt dodge. Swearing under his breath, he took four hits. Most of his systems were showing Red.

"Star Wolf Team, disengage, we've done our Job here." The Star Wolf team pulled out of the battle, but Fox realized that they had, in fact, done what they meant to do. All they had done was pulled Star Fox out of the battle for a while. In that time, the tide had turned. Most of the Katinian fighters were down, and the mothership was approaching. A massive, disk-shaped ship, with four hatches from which the fighters launched.

Fox tore toward the bothership, seeing if he could deal any damage to it and noticing that not even his Nova bombs seemed to damage it.

"ROB, can you fire on this thing?" ROB's voice answered over the radio.

"Negative, dealing significant damage to a ship of that mass from this distance is impossible." Fox swore. He tore across the bottom of the ship, and as one of the hatches opened he put a nova-bomb in it. That must have destroyed that hangar, but there were still three more, and he only had one bomb left.

"Star Fox Team, nova bomb the hatches to prevent them from launching re-enforcements."

Fox went for another hatch, putting his last Nova bomb up it. There were only two hangars left. Falco got one and, big surprise, Slippy got the other.

"We have an energy spike in the enemy mothership, they are charging their primary weapon. Their core is exposed, someone take it out!" Bill shouted. Then added, almost as an afterthought "One minute remaining"

Fox went for the core, firing at it with his blasters. He didnt do any significant damage on his first pass or on his second. "Fuck" he muttered.

"Thirty Seconds"

Fox tried again, this time attacking it from the bottom. He just couldnt seem to deal any damage to the core.

"ten." Fox turned around for one last pass.

"nine." He closed on it, firing the entire time

"eight" He punched the airbrake, slowing him down nearly to the point of falling out of the sky

"Seven." He fired, and fired, and fired. He seemed to be getting through the core's armor

"Six." He passed the core, praying that he had time for one last pass.

"Five" He performed the quickest U-turn he possibly could without crashing

"Four" Firing again, as fast as he could get the blasters to fire.

"Three" He was losing altitude from moving so slowly now

"Two" His blasters were almost in the red, almost overheated

"One" One of Fox's shots went into the core itself. The Core erupted into flames, which began to spread to the rest of the ship. It was exploding from within.

"All units, evacuate! Get out of the way!" Bill shouted.

The Mothership slammed the ground, burning down to it's frame.


	7. Bad Memories

Disclaimer: I dont own it. Never have, never will.

Star Fox: Chapter Seven.

Skirmish on Fortuna/bad memories.

The Star Fox team ate dinner that day in the broken ruins of Katina base. Fox was quiet... unusually quiet. The team ate in almost total silence, finding nothing to say to Fox. Meeting Wolf again had brought back memories... too many memories. Fox barely ate, the bland food in the base had no appeal to him. He kept mulling over something Wolf had said during the dogfight... it was probably nothing but a stupid taunt, but Fox couldnt help but think about it.

"What's wrong, Fox? You're better than this.", He had said. Fox wasnt so sure. He didnt seem to remember being any better than now. It seemed to him that he was at the peak of his skills. Wolf was far better than he was, though. If Wolf hadnt been pinned in place by those fighters being just where they were, he'd have had Fox in minutes.

"Damn it... he's too good." Fox muttered, not realizing he was speaking aloud. He only realized that when the rest of his team gave him a funny look. Shutting his mouth, he looked around for a moment. Bill and his pilots were having a bit of a party, it seemed, and were enjoying themselves. They had lost almost half of their pilots, but at least they had their lives. The Mothership crashing had also done severe damage to most of the base, killing off many more soldiers.

"Another victory for the good guys" Falco whispered in a sarcastic tone. It hadnt been much of a victory. The Katinians had taken severe casualties, and regardless of how many Venomians died, there were far more waiting. Fox sighed hard, thinking about the day's events.

His team was very worried about him. Metting Wolf again had shaken him terribly. All but Slippy knew why. Bill caught Fox's pained look and walked over to him, stumbling ever so slightly.

"Are you okay, Fox?" Fox didnt seem to hear him until he repeated it, then he nodded groggily, as though it didnt really matter to him. Bill got up and walked a few steps away, signaling Peppy to go with him. Peppy got up and followed after Bill. Bill turned to him when they were out of earshot. "Peppy... I havent seen Fox looking so terrible since the insurgency in Corneria..."

"I know, Bill... I dont think there's anything I can do about it." Bill looked at him and shook his head.

"Peppy... we have to do something. If we dont, Fox is gonna lose it." Peppy nodded, acknowlodging this. "Make sure you dont go reminding him of things... he doesnt need to remember." Even though he was drunk, he now seemed a bit pained himself.

"I know, Bill..." Peppy started.

"I mean... I saw the whole thing... the fire... Fara..." Bill bit his lip. Peppy turned around and walked back to the table with the rest of the Star Fox Team, while Bill ran back to his men, just in time for the next round of drinks.

As they were just about to turn in for the night, Fox's communicator recieved a signal. Fox stopped walking and turned the thing on. Pepper's face appeared, and his voice sounded urgent.

"I apologize for interrupting the celebration", he started, "We have lost communication with the main outpost on Fortuna. I will show you the last images caught by the base's perimiter cameras." The Star Fox team looked on the communicator's small monitor. A small fighter, a Wolfen I, was barreling toward the camera. As it approached, Fox could make out a symbol that looked like the Yang half of the yin-yang. Fox recognized it from Wolf's fighter. As it blew over the camera, the signal was replaced with static. Pepper's voice returned.

"I know it's a lot to ask, but could you scout the base and see what's going on?" Fox rolled his eyes, then sent a reply.

"...Fine, We'll go tomorrow. It's a four hour trip to Fortuna. Fox, out." Fox turned to his team. Seeing them just standing there, he snapped at them.

"Well, what're you waiting for? Battle preparations, _now_."

Fox stormed into his room, looking around hatefully. He quickly changed into his nightclothes, and sat down.  
He was tired. He could not believe how tired he was. He was more tired than he had been in years. He fell back, landing on his bed. Wolf's face appeared before his eyes. Not Wolf as he was during the Battle of Katina, but before. Fox remembered his face, grinning at him. One eye bright and almost feral, the other festering beneath that black eyepatch. Fox remembered the eyepatch now. Over his left eye. How had he lost it? Fox thought about it for a while, finding that he really couldnt remember. Swearing under his breath, he thought of Fara and cried himself to sleep.

* * *

He awoke an hour before they had to leave. He slowly got dressed, holstering his blasters and running his hand over the left side of his head. He could feel the metal plate that had been embedded there to replace his skull. It hadnt acted up in a while, and Fox wondered at this for a moment before moving out of his room. 

He didnt want to face Wolf again, he really didnt. Doing it once had hurt horribly. A job is a Job, he told himself, running toward the Great Fox.

His team arrived right on time. They boarded the Great Fox and blasted into space, hunkering down for the four hour flight to Fortuna. Fox settled in with a cup of coffee. He forced himself to think about nothing but flying.

The time seemed to move too quickly, and they reaced Fortuna. Fox ordered the team to launch, telling ROB to torch the base if they didnt return, per Protocol. The Star Fox team jetted through the Atmosphere, coming down just outside the base's perimiter. They jetted toward the base.

There didnt seem to be any damage to the main structure, it seemed like the outpost had been taken without a fight. Suddenly, five fighters launched from the base, rocketing toward them. They seemed to be the average fighters, and were easily taken down. Fox sent out a message.

"Star Wolf Team, I know you're in there. Come fight me." He nearly shouted the last part. As though by his command, The four Wolfen I's launched one after another. The Star Wolf Team broke up the way they did before, each of them going after a member of the Star Fox Team.

Pigma went after Peppy, and the two wheeled in the sky while Andrew and Slippy had a contest of brains over brawn. Falco squared off against Leon, and the two blew past each other, wheeled, and did it again. They were acting like midieval jousters. Of course, their horses were several tons, flew very quickly, and were made of steel, which would make a collision far more disasterous.

Wolf blew after Fox, and Fox's face turned bitter as he tried out his best move. He wheeled faster than the Wolfen I could react, but Wolf was a masterful dodger, taking only one of the barrage of shots that he'd been bombarded with.

"One thing you should know." Wolf said on the open channel. "We have set several bombs to go off inside the base. I dont think you care about that, but there are about... thirty-seven hostages inside." Fox smirked. Leaving Wolf behind with his superior speed, he blasted toward Slippy. Andrew was on his tail, blasting shots at him. Fox barreled directly into Andrew, his shielding system taking the brunt of the damage as it crippled Andrew's fighter.

"Slippy, go take care of the bombs, we'l handle this." Andrew retreated and Slippy flew toward the base. Fox turned back to Wolf. The two fought hard, but neither could gain any ground.

"Fox... you're better than this. Come on... what's wrong?" Wolf asked sadly. Fox blasted a few more shots at him, but he dodged. "Perhaps... you need some incitement..." Fox scowled and shot after him as he turned and flew away, quickly catching up.

"You see... it wasnt only Fara I killed that day." Fox thought about this for a moment, as did everyone else who was tuned into the open channel. It was Falco's voice that brought it home to Fox.

"Oh no..." Falco breathed in terror.

* * *

Fox screamed in grief and in pain. A pup... that's what she was going to tell him. He let go of the controls of his Arwing as Pigma blasted five shots at him. His shields were all ready damaged, and couldnt take all of them. The Arwing was badly damaged. It probably wasnt beyond repair, but it was falling. Fox didnt move... he felt like dieing. His head hurt. It hurt bad. The pain was horrible. He held his head with both hands, then he grinned. Suddenly, he pulled the eject switch.

He was launched into the air, seat and all. He was just ahead of Wolf, moving a bit faster. The Parachute attached to the seat unfolded, and began to slow his fall. Fox looked down at the Wolfen just below him, and made a quick calculation.

He slashed the cords the held on the parachute with his claws. He grabbed the chute with both hands, using it to guide his fall as he leaped out of the seat. If Wolf didnt speed up or turn, it would work.

He let go when he was seven feet above Wolf, letting Wolf's trajectory bring the Wolfen tot he right position. The Wolfen I had no shields, it wouldnt stop him. He hit the foreward window, hard. Looking within, he saw Wolf. He beat at the window a few times, then pulled himself up far enough to draw his blasters. He fired them at the foreward window until it shattered, then threw himself on Wolf, biting and clawing. There was no way Wolf could maintain control while trying to fight Fox off of him, and the Wolfen hit the ground at a shallow angle.

Wolf and Fox were thrown clear, but both got up quickly. Fox's appearance scared Wolf a little bit. Fox was covered with dirt and blood, most of it his own, his eyes were filled with animal hatred, his claws flexing angrily and his blaster forgotten.

He charged Wolf, launching a high kick. Wolf blocked this and he followed it with another kick, from the other leg. Wolf blocked this as well. Wolf threw a kick, and Fox jumped up, using the force of the kick to jump him over Wolf. As he landed, he spun and launched a kick meant to strike the side of Wolf's head. Fox's eyes widened as he realized that this kick had been blocked as well... and Wolf wasnt even looking.

Then Fox was on the ground, a heavy punch knocking the wind out of him. He didnt notice or care. He got up and charged again, swiping with his claws. Wolf took a few scratches, but blocked most.

Wolf launched a punch, and Fox caught it as it passed his head. Wolf tried to pull back, as expected, and Fox used the momentum to run up Wolf's larger body. When his right foot was on Wolf's chest, he spun to the left, making a complete turn before catching Wolf in the side of his head with his right foot. Wolf went sprawling.

Fox charged again as Wolf got up. He was about to strike when Wolf caught him with his knee in mid charge. Another punch and Fox hit the ground.. He could not usually have kept going, but his hate and pain fueled him. He got up and charged again, dodgeing a punch.

He caught Wolf's arm and Put his left foot in wolf's stomach, hard. Fox lifted Wolf with his arm and his leg, until Wolf was directly above him. He turned around and switched foots, putting his right foot into Wolf's stomach, he could feel the air leave Wolf's lungs.. He then drove Wolf into the ground. Wolf laid there for a moment, then got up. He wiped the blood off of his lip. A large flagship was landing behind him. Fox was about to chase him as he ran away, but the pain in his head was subsiding. He looked around and, as Wolf escaped, he remembered what he had learned. He screamed aloud, like a wounded animal, then fell to the ground.

Slippy stepped out of the base, then ran toward Fox's prone form. Slippy picked him up, to the best of his ability, and looked at him. He was suddenly surprised. Even in his sleep, Fox was crying.


	8. Another Side

Another Side, Another Story

Disclaimer: Not mine

(This is from Wolf's POV. After all, what is balance without both sides of the story?)

Wolf's POV

Injury? I know all about injury. I have felt enough of it. Why am I here? What am I doing in Fox's story? Why am I writing this? See... I know a lot about injury, and quite a lot about this story, being a part of it. Every story must have two halves, I suppose. No heroes without Villains, the saying goes. And so here I am.

Insanity? I know my fair share about that, as well. Yes... I know insanity. Well... sit back, and I will tell my story. Perhaps then, all will become clear.

Why did I do it? That question takes us back a long... long time.

Allow me to set the scene. Winter, freezing winter, several inches of snow resting upon the ground. This was the weather the day I met Fox. I had been in training in Corneria Academy for some time, now. I had never met the son of James Mccloud, but knew that I had to eventually.

I was quite a good pilot, and it was rumored that Fox was even better than I. It wasnt until I met him, though... until I saw in his eyes that beautiful determination, that brilliance, that _power_, that I knew what my purpose was.

I'm sorry, I have digressed. Back to the original story I was supposed to tell. Fox and I met on that day in winter, and the very first thing we did together was to have ourselves a dogfight. In the interest of training, mind you.

He was a beast in the old days, his ability to pilot his fighter dazzled me, his natural talent made me ache to have it. I lost that first dogfight, and after that I trained. I trained night after night, foresaking sleep. I knew I had to beat him, had to defeat _THE _Fox Mccloud.

Dont get me wrong, we soon became good friends. Fox and I were a common breed, both simple beasts with nothing but fight inside us. For me, it came from natural viciousness. It sort of... ran in my family, you might say. My father, Grey O'donnel, was nearly notorious as a soldier, and not in a good way. If there was ever a man who tortured more prisoners or killed anyone more brutally in the Cornerian Military than Grey O'donnel, he has never been brought to my attention. Grey was killed in a skirmish when I was very young. There was never any Filial love, and so I took his death without really noticing it.

For Fox, though, this viciousness came more from righteous anger. His drive came from the death of his father, and an odd , ongoing drive to surpass the Legend himself. He was good, so very good. He always strove to get better, to surpass his old man.

We got along beautifully, he and I. Along with Falco and Slippy, we made ourselves quite a little group. As I recall, we always got on Pepper's bad side, back before he was a general. I remember some of the stunts we pulled and I still laugh about them sometimes. That's ancient history now, though.

Fox and I always trained together, at everything. I remember training with him at gunfighting, each of us struggling to outdo the other. He has always been quicker with his hands than I, so gunfighting was something he usually won at.

In hand to hand, though, we were more fairly matched. He was faster than I, but I was far stronger. I could really only hit him about once for every four times he landed a hit on me, but at the same time my single hit could deal the damage of all four of his, and maybe a bit more. I learned his tricks and how to counter them, and he did the same with mine. We always tried to outdo each other. Sometimes I would win, sometimes he. I liked it that way, it gave me a challenge.

I dont remember quite when his Fara entered the picture. It must have been... a bit more than a year before the insurgency. Fara melted into our little group easily, and I was among the others who welcomed her into the fold. She was, as I recall, a brilliant pilot. I soon became friends with her as well. All four of us trusted each other with out lives, for the moment.

It was during a training practice, one of the few in which we flew actual fighters. We were dogfighting, Fox and I, and I was losing. I tore around a corner, trying to lose him, but he caught up and locked on to me. This is where things went wrong.

The fighters were supposed to have their weapons disabled, but his had apparently not been effectively disabled. Before I knew it, I my fighter had made a crater in the dirt. The last thing I had heard was Fox's voice screaming my name. I had lost my left eye in the crash, but I didnt notice because I was all ready unconcious

I think I spent several months in the infirmary. I think I was in a coma, since I had the strangest dream... I cannot remember the details now, but I do know this. I died.

Fox killed me. I dont blame him for it, I know he didnt mean to. I dont remember how long I was dead. A few minutes, maybe, before the doctors brought me back, restarted my heart. In that time, though, I knew I was dead. I could see... something. I couldnt tell what it was. In that space between life and death, I saw something. Whatever it was, it was beautiful.

* * *

When I awakened, looking around the hospital room with my one good eye, I felt an idea begin to form in my mind. I got up, forcing myself to stand through the drugs the hospital pumped into me and my own disused muscles. I walked to the restroom, taking who knows how much hospital equipment with me. I looked in the mirror. My left eye looked horrible. The surgeon had sewn it shut to help keep it from getting infected, but it would never be useful again. That was actually when I decided on the eyepatch. it was marginally better than this wound. 

Looking into that mirror, looking at myself, it truly hit me. I had a purpose! My purpose was to balance Fox out, dont you see? Fox and I were two parts of a whole, opposite halves, yin and Yang, equal and opposite. It all made SENSE. I started to laugh. I laughed so hard and so loud that the nurses stormed into the room, thinking that I was siezing. I had decided, then, that no matter what side Fox was on, I would be on the other.

I was released from the hospital not long after that. I re-entered the academy and set to work training my disused body back to where it had been before. I even entered the same social group, though Fox and I were always tense around each other after that. In the meantime, Fara and Fox had a bit of a flame going. I could tell that from the beginning.

Of course, I hadnt known just how far it had gone until about three months later, when we were all on leave for a weakend. I had nothing to do, the nightlife around Corneria City didnt satisfy me the way it did Falco, and so when he asked if I'd go drinking with him, I declined. Instead, I followed Fox and Fara. I considered it an excercise. A test. Could I stalk Fox from the shadows without him thinking anything is amiss?

As it turns out, I was a better stalker than I thought I was. I watched them eat dinner together, and check into a hotel room at the end of the night. This was just too juicy for me to pass up. There was a large tree outside the hotel, apparently there for effect. I climbed it, watching them climb the stairs and enter the room.

I had to applaud Fox, he managed to get a quite pretty woman for himself. I watched the lovebirds play until it looked like I might want to leave and give them some privacy. Falling lightly off of the branches, I began to walk away aimlessly. An Idea was forming in my mind.

Yin, you see, has a small bit of Yang within it. Thus, in order for there to be a balance, Fox and I had to have something about us that was the same. Fox had changed, you see, since Fara had come into his life. He was happy, he had lost that viciousness that gave him such an edge in battle.

The idea didnt fully come to me until a few months later, when Fara brought Katt, Falco, and I together, her most trusted friends, and asked us what she would do about a certain problem she had.

After much prying, we found that she was carrying Fox's pup. I was intrigued. If Fox had a Son, what would he be like? He would probably be a pilot... what would that do to the balance?

It was then, staring at her, that the idea fully came to me. It was all I could do to keep my gaze "normal" so that she would not suspect. I knew, now, how I would make Fox my true counterpart. A true balance to me.

* * *

The insurgency was planned a long time beforehand. We got together almost twenty men who wanted to defect from the Cornerian Army. We prepare the bombs, kept them hidden, and finally, set them off. I had more than just my rivalry with Fox riding on it... Andross had promised to give me back my left eye. A heavy price for any fighter pilot.

Oh, I remember the flames! The fire leapt into the sky beautifully. I didnt care much for it, at the time. I quickly made for the one destination I had before making my escape. Fara's quarters werent far from mine, and I could get there long before Fox could.

When I entered her room, Fara was about to leave. She looked up at me like she was going to greet me, and then I think she caught the look in my eyes. She shrank back, and that fear I felt from her seemed to... make me lose it. I charged her like a rabid beast, clawing, biting, breaking, tearing. I didnt actually realize what I was doing until I was standing over her corpse, her blood fresh in my mouth, her scent filling my nostrils. I think that... by taking that from Fox, I killed a part of myself as well. I seemed to... numb. There is no other word for it.

When Fox entered her quarters, I barely noticed. He screamed something at me, and I rattled off some glib reply. When he drew his guns, I drew mine. I hadn't meant to do so much damage to him... but then again, I killed him like he killed me. Then Bill came running after Fox. Bill put a shot in my shoulder and a shot in my leg, grabbed Fox and carried him of. I was left to limp out of the base into the waiting escape vessel.

* * *

So that's the story. I know that you ont think that justifies a thing. Villains, after all, are and always will be villified, though that is a bit redundant. There is nothing more to tell, except this... I'm sorry, Fox. 


	9. To be Consumed

It's been a long time, a very long time. This is the first time I've updated this in forever. I hope that you enjoy it, and I hope that some people familiar with my work will return to give it another read. Read it and review it. Soon, it will be complete.

Disclaimer: I dont own it. I never will.

-------------------------------------------------

Of Wolves And Foxes: To be Consumed...

Fox awakened with a start, looking arodund his quarters like a startled animal. His fingers flexed as he instinctively prepared his claws for battle. Then he calmed down. He looked around his room and found it familiar. In one corner sat Peppy, now thoroughly surprised by Fox's sudden awakening. Fox shook his head and asked how long he'd been sleeping.

"Almost three days now" Peppy said, with more than a hint of concern.

Fox's memories were coming back again. Wolf's grinning face as he gave Fox the worst news he has ever gotten. His hand instinctively traveled up to his head. His fingers tightened just a little on the left side of his head. A moment later, his other hand joined in, and he cradled his head in his hands and wept.

Peppy put a hand on his shoulder, helping him get back under control. Slowly, slowly, Fox got himself under control and stood up out of his bed. He walked to the bridge of the Great Fox, Peppy trailing behind. The rest of the Star Fox Team was waiting on the Bridge. THey all turned to look as their captain returned to his post.

"What's the status?" Fox asked, sitting heavily into the captain's seat as Slippy spoke up.

"Our next job is going to be extremely dangerous." Slippy said a bit worriedly. "We're going into Area 6."

"Area 6" Fox repeated, thinking about where that was. "We're going to attack Venom directly, arent we?" he asked. Slippy nodded. Fox stood up again, and gave a few orders. "Let's go then. Everyone prepare your ships. Make sure we're in top shape. We have a battle ahead of us." With that, Fox left the bridge, going down to inspect his arwing. He leaned heavily against its hull, and allowed himself to think of Fara. He envisioned what her face would have looked like when she told him...

Suddenly, he turned to his Arwing, examining every surface. He remembered a day, long before, when some lawyer had shown him the video-will his father had left, which essentially left everything to Fox. Even now, he could remember his father's voice.

"Fox, Take good care of the Arwings. They'll always take care of you"

The more he looked at the arwing, the more he thought that something must be missing from it. Sudenly, it came to him in a flash of insight. He ran to the storage closet where Slippy kept all the maintenance tools for the arwings, and grabbed a bucket of white paint and a bucket of black paint.

Meanwhile, the Great Fox entered hyperspace.  
-  
Some hours later, as the Great Fox was about to leave hyperspace at its destination, Slippy came down to the maintenance hanger to see what Fox was doing. He found him underneath his Arwing, putting on a final coat of paint. "What'cha doin?" He asked curiously. Fox just stoop up and moved away from the arwing.

Now slippy could see that hull of the arwing, on the lower side of the nose, was a sigil that looked oddly like the one that he had seen on Wolf's ship: It looked like the Yin half of the Yin-Yang. Fox seemed satisfied with it, and suddenly turned on Slippy. "What are you doing, get on maintenence, these Arwings need to be in perfect condition, and we've only got half an hour." This seemed to remind Slippy of something.

"Oh, by the way, I added a new weapon to your arwing." Slippy said "I copied it off of that schematic that Peppy aquired for the Wolfen II."

"So? What is it?" Fox asked curiously.

"IT's a wing-blade." Slippy was in his element now "It focuses laser-energy into a short beam that can be tuned to create a "blade" on and around the wing, with a bit of extension. So, if you turn it on, your wings will be able to slice through steel like paper." Fox, undaunted by Slippy's overly-technical description (he was well used to it by now), looked over the arwing again, now he could see the small indentations that marked the new weapon that Slippy had installed.

"Thanks, Slippy" Fox said. "We're gonna need all the help we can get."

-------------------------------------------------------------

Fox sat in the cockpit of his Arwing, looking over the instruments. Everything looked in good order. He stroked the Arwings dashboard lovingly. "We'll have peace again soon, wont we." He said to himself. "Yes... we will"


	10. Instability

Of Wolves and Foxes

Author's Note:

This is it, friends and neighbors, we're getting close now. THe culmination of everything I wanted this fanfiction to be. We're getting close to the last moments, the final conflict, the coup de grace. Read it, review it, love it, hate it, this is it. I've been working on this for almost two years, it's almost finished. It's all about this moment, right now.

-------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 10: Instability.

The Great Fox left hyperspace. Just as the enormous ship left warp space, the Star Fox team knew that something was wrong. They should have gated out a mere few kilometers from Area 6. Instead, they were quite obviously in the blood red nebula, Sector Z. Fox, who had just returned to the bridge after his last maintenance run on his Arwing, surveyed the area, then called on Rob to check whether there had been a malfunction with the Plasma Drive. Rob's mechanical voice answered.

"No abnormalities detected. As far as I can tell, we should have been precisely on target... unless..." Fox looked the sensor's over carefully. Finally, he noticed a tiny blip on the sensor, about the same size as would be created by a housecat floating in space. 

"Rob" Fox ordered, "Give me an intensive sensor sweep of Coordinate 12x, 14y, 13z." Rob did so, tuning the sensors and shipboard cameras on that location. 

There it was. Appearing on the screen was a small device. It was emitting a Hyperspace signature, which would cause any ship attempting to jump to venom via hyperspace to misjump, and by quite a margin, apparently. Suddenly, A siren blared across the bridge, and Rob's voice blared over the Intercom.

"Warning, warning, hostile energy signatures detected in close proximity, warning..." It continued in this way for quite some time, but Fox tuned it out. Instead of listening, he barked a few quick orders over the bridge. 

"Rob, take us twelve kilometers higher, we need a better view of the nebula. Star Fox team, to the Arwings!." He leaped down from his seat, and the four pilots ran full tilt toward the hangar. 

By the time the Arwings launched, the Nebula was littered with androssian fighters. The small, insectlike kind that Fox and Falco had unanimously declared their least favorite type of enemy fighter, because they died faster than the Arwings could fire. The four arwings spread out of their formation immediately after launch, each one covering a side of the Great Fox. Fox was on the right side, falco the left, slippy the top, and peppy the underside. As always, the Androssian fighters exploded in one or two shots, making them no match for the arwings whatsoever. As suddenly as they had come, the small fighters beat a hasty retreat. 

"The hell?" Falco asked over the radio, having never seen Androssian fighters retreat like that. Rob came over the radio once again, this time with a heads-up display of a large, cylindrical object that seemed to be moving at quite a velocity. 

"Multiple missiles incoming from the port and Starboard side, damage estimate for impact exceeds 20." This was Rob's way of saying that if even one of them got through, the Great Fox would almost surely be out of commission for a long while.

Fox jammed the throttle of his arwing foreward, Barreling toward the incoming missiles. Falco did likewise, aiming for the opposite side as Fox. Fox tried to destroy the first missile by way of frontal assault, but quickly found that these warheads shrugged off most laser damage. He blew past the missile, and made a quick, sweeping U-turn which brought him directly behind the missile. Punching the afterburner to full to ensure that he would get past the missile before it exploded, he jammed a Nova bomb up one of its engines. The missile exploded with a colossal, blinding light. On falco's side, another missile went down. Slippy and peppy continued to mop up the remaining fighters, most of which had returned along with the missiles.

As fox was dealing with a third missile, Rob once again came over the radio. "Warning, Several hostile soldiers have boarded the Great Fox, they are attempting to hack into the main computer." 

Fox rolled his eyes, then left Slippy, Peppy, and Falco to deal with the rest of the missiles while he returned to the ship to deal with this new problem. He entered the hangar as quickly as he could, parking the Arwing right next to the hostile fighter that had docked in the hangar. He hit a few buttons on one wall of the hangar and the enemy ship was forcibly launched out, without a pilot. Then, he slowly and carfully made his way back to his quarters, to pick up a few supplies. The hostile soldiers must have gotten to the bridge and forgone leaving guards near the hangar. Idiots.

Fox entered his quarters, and grabbed a second power clip for his blaster, as well as picking up a two foot long, somewhat curved sword, which he found useful for starship boarding actions. As he left his small quarters with his supplies, he held his radio to his mouth, having set it to broadcast over the ships intercom.

------------------------------------------------------

Outside, the battle was going rather well. Between Falco, Slippy, and Peppy, all of the missiles were being quite quickly dispatched, to say nothing of the enemy fighters. Peppy was worried, though. The situation inside the Great Fox was very likely to get very bloody, very fast. He didnt doubt, of course, that Fox was more than capable of handling the situation on his own. On the contrary, that's precisely what he was afraid of.

Fox crept through the ship's cramped hallways, one hand on the hilt of the sword, the other inching ever closer to the handle of his blaster. He looked cautiously around the corner, and saw an anthropomorphic lizard. He looked large, scaly, green, and full of bad news. The lizard looked around the corridor and then turned around again. Obviously, he had been sent back into the corridors to find the source of the earlier disturbance. Well, his back was turned now. Fox held his sword tighly, lest it rattle and alert the soldier to his presence. He wouldnt be using his blaster just yet, it made too much noise. Fox could be very, very silent when he wished to be. The lizard didnt even think to look behind him intil is was far too late. As he began to turn, Fox unsheathed the sword and attacked int he same, fluid motion.

The Lizard fell to the ground as the terribly sharp weapon bit through scale, then muscle, then bone. The lizard's lungs were slashed open and his spine severed. He fell to the ground in a heap, but Fox noted a tiny bit of breathing still occuring. he plunged the weapon down again, severing the unfortunate soldier's head. Fox shook the blood off of his blade, and then stared down at his right hand, the hand that wasnt holding the weapon. His palm was nearly covered with the blood that had sprayed as he sliced the lizard open. Taking a deep, calming breath, he shook the blood off his hand. 

He crept toward the bridge, and as he did, he could swear that there was a voice, calling to him. It wasnt anything the voice said, but rather the voice itself that seemed to drive him mad. His hands shook, his teeth clenched, his lip curled into a sneer. There, in the corridor just a few steps from the door to the bridge, were the enemies. Rob had obviously sealed off the bridge, and this was obviously causing them a bit of trouble.

"Hey" The voice said softly, gently, almost as though talking to a child. "Hey" It said again. Fox looked down the corridor at them, for their backs were turned to him as they worked on the sealed door. There were four of them. One was a tallish striped catlike creature, one was an Avion like Falco, one was some sort of simian, and the last was a dog that looked rather a bit like Bill. 

For a moment, though, they all looked disturbingly like...

"Hey" The voice said again. Fox couldnt stand it, couldnt bear to hear this voice now. Forgetting any semblance of stealth, he charged the enemies. They heard his footsteps and turned to see a blood covered, maniacal Vulpine charging them. One had the sense to draw his blaster, but Fox was far more used to the slightly less-powerful artificial gravity of the Great Fox, which magnified his natural agility even further. As he saw one draw his blaster, he moved his steps closer to the wall to one side, then, in a careful maneuvre, he ran horizonally across the wall, taking him a bit higher for an attack and throwing off his opponents' aim. "Hey", said the voice again, "Are you listening?" He leapt off the wall and plunged the sword through the Avion's chest.

"Fox" Said the voice again, and Fox turned the impaled Soldier so that he was between Fox and his enemies. At that very moment, his enemies opened fire. The unfortunate Soldier shook violently as perhaps five blaster shots riddled his body. 

"Fox, are you really listening?" The voice asked. Fox threw the torn body of the Avian onto the floor at the same time as he drew his blaster and put a shot through the simian's head. Blood splattered onto the wall behind as the simian fell like a sack of potatoes. 

"Fox" said the voice again. "I... " Fox screamed in animal fury as he fired two more shots, each through a side of the Dog's chest, and he too hit the floor.

"Fox... I love..." Fox screamed again, and the catlike soldier readied for a shot, or tried to. He was trembling all over. The creature before him seemed more like a vengeful ghost, more like an untouchable spirit than a mere mortal. This blood covered Vulpine filled him with terror. Before he could get a shot off, the sword flashed through the air in a quick arc, taking with it the forearm that had been holding the blaster. Now it was the Cat's turn to scream. 

"Fox, I love you." The voice finished at last, as Fox plunged the blade through the Cat's throat. He just left it there as the Cat fell to the ground. Fox slumped against the nearest wall, looking around at the bodies and the bloodstained floor. He held the left side of his head for a moment, then got up and ordered ROB to open the door. 

The rest of the team parked in the hangar, having destroyed the last of the missiles and mopped up the last of the enemy fighters, as well as destroying that pesky jamming device. The three of them headed to the bridge, stepping over the corpse of the Lizard with a worried glance at each other. When they came to the last corridor before the bridge, Slippy held back a convulsive urge to vomit. Peppy held a paw up to his mouth, and even Falco seemed a bit disgusted. The three of them walked onto the bridge, where Fox sat in his chair, toying with his blaster. 

"Hi guys." Fox said, "Sorry about the mess." The three of them just looked at each other. Fox looked bad. Really bad. His fur was matted and covered with blood, his uniform was soaked in blood and sweat, his flight helmet was the only part of him that was almost untouched by the blood. Fox looked around the bridge, his eyes seeming to order every one of his team back to their stations. "Rob, get a cleaning robot on the mess outside, and put in the coordinates for our jump to Area 6." He looked around at his team, as they worked to at their individual stations in silence.

Then, he decided he probably needed a shower.

--------------------------------------------------------

How is it? Do you hate it? do you love it? I dont care which it is, I want to know! 


	11. Fury

((Author's note: Yes, I know, I havent updated in forever. Well, here comes the next chapter. This fic is amongst the unfinished business I must complete.))

Of wolves and foxes: A hopeless battle?

Disclaimer: Dont own it

The Great Fox came out of hyperspace, the four arwings launching as quickly as possible. The Star Fox team was met with the sight of perhaps a hundred huge axe-shaped battlecruisers, various disk-like battlestations, and a ton of fighters. behind all of those was the yellowish-green sphere of Venom, itself. This is where the final assault was going to take place. Fox's voice came over the radios, barking a quick order.

"Star Fox team, we are going to break straight through. Save your nova bombs for the battleships. ROB, take up the rear, and try to nail the battleships." Rob gave a quick affirmative, and the Great Fox opened fire on the nearest battlestation. The Great Fox's main gun punched a hole straight through the disk, and the station exploded, launching a cloud of debris in every direction. The Star Fox team barreled headlong into a swarm of fighters, wheeling and firing in unison. They broke straight through the swarm, and charged the battlecruiser on the other side. All four of them launched their nova bombs in unison, and the four gigantic explosions tore the battlecruiser to pieces. The crew's last screams echoed over the open channel.

Suddenly, fighters were on all sides. the Star Fox team scattered, but several shots tore at Fox's shields, and just as quickly Fox's engines were in the red. The fighters surrounded him even as Falco and Peppy ripped several of them to pieces. They were taking potshots at him, working his systems slowly into the red, only slightly faster than the arwing's autorepair functions could repair the damage. For the barest of instant's Fox knew he was going to die. The sharp pain in his head was more pronounced than ever.

He spoke suddenly, a flash of insight filling his mind with unusual clarity. "Computer", he whispered, "Charge F-Destroyer now." A few seconds later, the computerized voice told him it was completed. With a disturbing grin, he hit the button.

The Arwing's shields overheated. Every ounce of energy in the ships reactor was focused into the shielding system, and the ships shield exploded outward. The enemy ships were not configured for this type of attack, and their shielding systems were ripped to pieces. most of the ships were quickly anihilated. With a deranged laugh, he kicked the engines back on. His ship was a missile, blasting through the remaining fighters as though they werent even there.

With a laugh, slippy started to re-enter the fray. Peppy tried to warn him as quickly as possible, but it was too late. Fox, in his insane rage, blew right past slippy, the arwings new wing-blades tearing through Slippy's hull. The ship would survive, but it was now in no condition to fight.

"This is no place for weaklings, frog!" Fox screamed over the open channel just as his shielding systems came back online at full power. There was a battleship directly ahead, and Fox shrieked with joy as he shot towards its frontal hull at full speed. He focused the shielding systems onto the front of the ship, buffering them specifically against physical damage. Just as the two collided, he kicked the wing-blades back on and his arwing literally tore through the battlecruiser's bridge. Peppy and Falco gave him wide berth as Slippy returned to the Great Fox for repairs. Both of them realized that in his fury, Fox might well attack either of them should they get too close.

The Great Fox continued to fire, its main cannon raining swift death on the enemy batttlecruisers and stations. Suddenly, the path to Venom was clear. They could reach it before the Venomian reinforcements reached them. Falco and Peppy retreated to the Great Fox, all the while doing their damndest to convince Fox to return to the ship. The Cornerian military jumped in right behind them, the few remaining battleships owned by the cornerians all ready starting to mop up the surviving ships that hadnt fled.

Suddenly, Fox was himself again. He looked around his Arwing, and realized that there was no one left to kill. He flew back to the great Fox, hoping that Slippy would forgive him for what he has done in his rage. His ship docked, and the Great Fox prepared for descent into Venom's atmosphere.


	12. End of all things

Of Wolves and Foxes - At the End of all Things

Your normal average disclaimer

Venom. The planet's very name stank of poison, destruction, and malice. Here the Cornerian Military marooned the most dangerous and powerful of its enemies. Here, Andross had created perhaps the most powerful military force that the lylat system had ever known.

Fox hit the barren planet's atmosphere at a steep incline. His shields glowed brightly as the friction caused intense heat across his bnulkheads. He had calmed down quite a bit, but he knew full and well what was waiting for him on the surface. Andross. More importantly, he knew exactly who would serve as Andross' last line of defense. He checked his tactical readout, and saw that his team was still right behind him. Slippy had made a few quick repairs and was apparently back in the fight. Fox paid no attention to the battle taking place behind them, though the Great Fox had been ordered to join in the fun.

The red glow from the heat on his shields subsided as he reduced his speed. He could see the surface now. Sulfourus rock and sand. It was certainly not the best of all possible places to live. He scanned the surface for a few minutes. When he saw the circular opening into what had to be Andross' inner sanctum, he finally broke the long radio silence.

"I see the entrance. No hostiles on scan-" He was interrupted by a salvo fired from directly above him. He dodged just in time to save his shields as a large craft shot past him. It was larger than an arwing, and apparently made of a slightly different alloy. The wings seemed to be swept foreward, bringing two sets of twin lasers to bear directly foreward. A dogfighter's ship if there ever was one. To make matters worse, they hadnt even appeared as a blip on the scanner.

The Star Fox team broke formation as three more of them appeared. This time in complete, frightening slence, all four of the hostile ships chose a target and locked on. It was fox who broke the silence, calling wolf out over the open channel.

"I don't think you can take me now, Fox." Came the reply. Fox checked his six. He could not make out the pilot through the tinted glass of the cockpit, but he could clearly make out the marking on the hull. It was definitely wolf on his tail. He assumed that all four members of the Star Wolf team had chosen the same targets as they had before. He took a quick look around to confirm.

Peppy and Pigma wheeled around each other, both avoiding a straight dogfight. Falco and Leon repeatedly played chicken like a pair of midieval jousters. Andrew and Slippy were just as useless as usual. Suddenly, Fox took three consecutive hits to his rear shielding. As though reading his mind, Wolf came over the radio again.

"You dont have time to look away!" He fired a second salvo, but now that Fox was paying attention the Arwing dodged masterfully. Fox pulled the Arwing into a sharp loop, hoping to come back in behind Wolf. As Wolf's ship came into view, Fox gasped in surprise. Wolf had seen his maneuvre in time to pull his vessel upward. Wolf had turned what should have been Fox's advantage into his own. Both ships fired, but Wolf's had the advantage in firepower. They shot past each other, with Fox's shields showing yellow. Fox pulled the ship into a sharp turn, and approached Wolf full throttle.

Fox kicked on the wing-blades, hoping to slice Wolf's ship in half. For a moment, it seemed that Wolf was dodging, but he turned and shot straight past Fox. Just before the two ships passed, Fox saw a familiar glint just off of Wolf's wing. Without the time to get out of the way, the wing-blades collided midair. Both ships were thrown into a spin, and Fox thought for a moment that he wouldnt be able to right it, but the G-diffuser did its work, and the ship righted itself.

"Show me." Wolf whispered over the open channel as his ship righted itself. He forced his ship to higher speeds as he flew straight at Fox again. "Show me the insanity I've given you." He fired again, but Fox managed to dodge. Fox screamed in fury, forcing his ship intoa tight arc to bring him behind Wolf. Even with the G-diffuser's help, the G-forces were intense. He fired several volleys at the rear of Wolf's ship. Several of the shots hit their mark, but Wolf's shielding held. Wolf pulled into a loop, Fox followed, firing volley after volley.

"Yes, that's it." Wolf whispered. He took a few more hits, and his shield showed red. "Brilliant." Wolf hit the air-brake, and Fox's ship shot past before Fox could compensate. Now the tables would turn. Suddenly, Fox got a communication from General Pepper over his channel.

"Fox. This battle is not going well. Venomian reinforcements have arrived. You must disable Andross Now!" Fox looked at the entrance to Andross' fortress, then behind him at Wolf's ship. He made his decision, then barked an order over their channel.

"Star Fox Team, disengage. I'm going in." His Arwing then flew a wide loop, and barreled straight down into the open tunnel.

It was dark, but the lights on either end guided his ship through the huge corridors. Suddenly, a voice came over the radio, on his personal channel.

"At last we meet, Fox." The voice was full of malice and cunning. Fox knew instantly who it had to be. Andross himself. He must really have been frightened, or perhaps arrogant. "Brings back memories of that father of yours." So that was his game. Andross was trying to bait him.

"Not gonna work, buddy." Fox replied as he negotiated one of the smaller tunnels. Andross laughed. It was odd... it was as though Fox had heard the laugh before it even registered on his radio. Fox shook his head, trying to rid himself of the odd feeling.

"Hmmph. You left Wolf alive, I see. Is that resolve of yours weakening?" Now Fox was certain he was hearing the voice twice. It was almost as though he was hearing it in his mind before the radio. "Cant even avenge that girl of yours. What could you possibly do against me?" No matter how hard Fox tried to ignore the voice, he couldnt. It was almost as though...

"Telepathy. You're in my head." He whispered. Andross laughed again. The voice was becoming louder in his mind. In a few moments, Andross wouldn't even need the radio.

"Right you are. This is one of the many advantages to being a genius" Andross said as Fox's arwing came into a large, open space. There, sitting in the center, was a massive bulbous head and a pair of disembodied hands. The hands and head of an ape. Fox got the impression that this was no vessel. This was Andross' true body.

"You're insane." Fox whispered over the radio. The voice was in his head again, louder than ever.

"Insane? Me? Why, I dont believe I have ever attacked one of _my_ men without cause." Andross said as the hands began to move.

"Shut up!" Fox screamed as he kicked his ship to full throttle, firing his lasers at Andross' enormous head. The shots were absorbed as though they werent even there. Andross took a swipe at him, and Fox was barely able to dodge it. Fox decided that if he couldnt damage Andross' head, he would remove his hands. Each hand had a diamond shape core, and Fox assumed (correctly, as it turned out) that those were week points. As Andross pulled back for another swipe, Fox blasted the diamond until the entire hand exploded. Andross screamed with rage and tried to grab the Arwing with his other hand. With a little deft positioning, Fox blew that hand off as well. Andross, out of options, attempted to bite the Arwing. Fox didnt know what else to do. The mouth was enormous, it would be far too difficult to dodge. He had three nova bombs left, and fired one into the mouth hoping for an effect.Andross pulled back, evidently hurt by the explosion. Fox then went for the most obvious weak point on an ape's head: the eyes. The left eye, then the right fell to Fox's laser.

Andross' head seemed to explode from within. There, where the head had once been, was an enormous brain. Andross' true form. Now, Fox thought, The fight gets real.

The brain was immune to lasers, apparently. But when it turned around, Fox could see a small green area on the brain, the medulla. Before Fox could fire at it, the voice was in his mind again. Too huge for words, it seemed to cause physical pain.

"NOW... LET'S SEE WHAT'S IN THAT MIND OF YOURS." Fox screamed as he felt his mind being torn through. Andross was looking at everything. Then, Fox was in his bed.

He looked around, wondering exactly what was going on. This was his room in the academy... how could he have gotten here? He could have sworn that he was just in his Arwing. Then, the siren went off. That damned siren. He grabbed his head, but it didnt matter, his body was moving on his own.

"No..." he cried "Dont make me see it again... please" He was begging, and he was sure Andross was loving it. There she was again, torn to pieces by Wolf's claws and teeth. "No!" he screamed again.

He was back in his cockpit, the brain before him unchanged. "DID YOU ENJOY THAT?" Came the enormous voice again. "YOUR FATHER CERTAINLY DID." Fox shook his head through the pain in his skull and fired at the green blob. He hit a few times, and Andross screamed in obvious agony. Then, Fox was no longer in his cockpit.

"Hey, Fox." Came a sweet voice in his ear. He opened his eyes and looked to his right. Fara was beside him, her skin soft against his. "Are you listening?" Fox nodded and rested his head back, the vision of her torn to pieces in his mind again.

"Hey." She whispered in his ear again, "Are you _really_ listening?" Fox opened his eyes again, and replied in the affirmative. "I love you" She whispered. He grinned happily, forgetting for a bare moment what would happen soon after.

He was back in his cockpit. This time, though, he was grinning wildly. "You picked the wrong one, Andross. Not so smart after all, are we?" He had the resolve now. The pain of Andross' voice was nothing to him. He flew directly around the massive brain, hammering the medulla with volley after volley. Then, the green sphere exploded. Andross screamed in what must have been the closest he could come to death throes.

"IF I GO DOWN, I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!" Andross screamed, and then Fox's shield were overloaded by an enorous explosion.

"Not gonna go down like that, are you?" Came a familiar voice. Fox couldnt quite place it. Then the tunnel exit was before him, and the explosion from Andross' self-destruct mechanism behind. In front of him was a Wolfen II with markings that were so very familiar to him...

"Wolf?" Fox whispered. He could hardly believe his eyes.

"No one is going to kill you but me. Follow me, Fox. I know the way out. You wouldnt shoot me in the back, now would you?" Both ships flew full throttle, Fox following Wolf's ship as it turned corners, dodged falling debris, and performed every manner of piloting excellence. Suddenly, he could see the exit. The wolfen shot through the opening, the arwing an instant later. Fox's ship had taken too much punishment. After a run like that it could not stay airborne. The arwing hit the Venomian surface at low speed and incline, sliding across the ground. Fox could see Wolf's ship setting down not a hundred feet away. Fox got out of his cockpit, Wolf got out of his. Fox charged, Wolf stood just where he was. Fox was twenty feet away, then ten. He was preparing to leap at his target when his leg gave out, leaving him sprawling on the Venomian sand.

He lay there, facedown, cursing himself for being too mentally and physically exausted to fight. He heard Wolf's heavy footsteps, knowing that his end was approaching. Then, he heard a sharp thud to his side. He looked up to see that Wolf had taken a seat on the sand. He had a blaster in his hand. so ends Fox, he thought. But Wolf did not shoot him. Instead he raised the blaster to just in front of his face, and Fox thought for a moment that he was about to... but no, Wolf fired the blaster on the lowest setting, heating the barrel. When he had decided that the barrel was sufficiently hot, he pressed the cigarette between his lips against it, lighting it. It was an old trick they had learned in the academy, when they werent allowed to carry lighters. Fox had kicked the habit, but obviously Wolf had not.

Fox pulled himself into a sitting position. Wolf took a drag of his cigarette, then passed it to him. Too tired to argue, Fox took it. They used to sit like this, a long time ago, sharing a cigarette between missions. Fox took a drag. He blew it out quickly, his lungs not used to the foreign material.

"Wolf... did you really have to" Fox couldnt finish the sentence, so he took a second drag instead, and passed the cigarette back.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time." Wolf replied as he puffed the cigarette. After a few minutes he passed it back.

"That's why you do everything, isn't it?" Wolf just looked back at him. Fox lowered the cigarette from his lips, staring into Wolf's good eye. It wasn't hatred, nor anger, nor even madness he saw there. It was impossible for him to articulate what it was. "I will kill you someday" Fox whispered as he passed the smoke back.

"Perhaps. Or maybe I'll kill you. Not today, though." The communication, though unspoken, was every bit as strong as Andross' telepathy. They sat there for a long time, sharing their cigarette. When that one was gone, Wolf lit another. Finally, Wolf stood. He extended a hand to Fox, and Fox took it. Wolf's great strength lifted Fox to his feet. Wolf started to walk away.

"Your team will be looking for you." Wolf said. "And my team will come when I call. Come now, we must prepare." Fox tried to think, but in his dazed state, he could not figure out what Wolf was talking about.

"Prepare for what?" Fox asked. Wolf just stared into the sky, though the dense cloud covering concealed the stars.

"For the next war." Wolf said simply, "And the next war, and the next, and the next." Wolf walked away, and Fox called his team to pick him up.


End file.
